GRAZIANO, ROCKY

born Jan. 1, 1922, New York, N.Y., U.S. died May 22, 1990, New York original name Thomas Rocco Barbella American boxer and world middleweight boxing champion (1947-48). In his youth Graziano was a juvenile delinquent, and he later deserted from the U.S. Army after punching an officer. Though he had begun using the name Graziano, he was nevertheless found, sentenced to nine months in the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, and dishonourably discharged from the service. As a professional fighter he became known for his powerful right-hand punches and for his relentless, animal-like fury. His career record was 67-10-6, and his best-known fights were his three against Tony Zale. Zale knocked him out in the first fight, in 1946; Graziano won the second, thereby becoming middleweight champion; Zale won the third by a knockout, and regained the championship. Graziano lost his last middleweight title challenge to Sugar Ray Robinson in 1952 and retired from boxing the next year. He subsequently became a comic actor and wrote, with Rowland Barber, his autobiography Somebody Up There Likes Me, which was made into a popular film in 1956. Graziano was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1971.